


Now Your Mess Is Mine

by anaverageshipper



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies), Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Meeting Newt Scamander, OC Travels Back To New York On the Same Boat as Newt, OC is Identical to Leta Lestrange, a bit of angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-25
Updated: 2016-12-25
Packaged: 2018-09-02 02:21:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8648029
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anaverageshipper/pseuds/anaverageshipper
Summary: Harriet Portwell is a bright, talented witch who just finished her schooling at Hogwarts and is returning to America, her home. She meets a peculiar man on the ship over, and she's quite sure that he's a wizard. When he loses his niffler in America, he enlists her help to find the sneaky little creature.





	1. On My Way Home Again (Preface)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a short chapter, but it's just a introduction to the character Harriet Portwell. I wanted you to have some background information on her to explain why she does what she does, and her underlying motives in this story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A visual image I have for Harriet is something like Sasha Kichigina. Look her up, she's gorgeous. (HER HAIR THO)

Harriet Portwell was no ordinary girl, as she had known since she was very young and noticed odd things happening around her, such as dandelions shooting out of the ground in seconds, then flying all around her in a dance. She was excited to see these magical skills only develop and grow as she became older. 

She attended Ilvermorny in the Thunderbird house until her mother decided to transfer Harriet to Hogwarts her last year of schooling, in order to protect her from the growing suspicion of witches and wizards among no-majs. It seemed to be just in good timing to leave as the dangerous threat of Grindelwald reached New York.

Harriet was sorted into Slytherin and finished Hogwarts as Head Girl, despite only being there for a year. What's worse, the Slytherin Head of House took an intense liking to her, often inviting Harriet to personal, one-on-one "meetings" where they drank tea and the professor asked intrusive questions about Harriet's life and family's history. This caused her to be not very popular among the rest of the Slytherin girls in her year, nor any of the other years particularly. She found slight refuge in a kind and quiet boy in Ravenclaw named Roger Dickons, and while that was nice, she was still terribly homesick. 

As soon as she had completed her year, she quickly packed up her belongings and made ready for travel back to America. She was anxious to see her mother, whom she hadn't seen in over a year. To her utter dismay, her mother ordered Harriet to stay in Europe a while longer, close to Hogwarts, which she described in her letters to Harriet as the safest place in the world. 

For two long years at her mother’s boding, Harriet worked at a small pub in Scotland, which was owned by some close friends of her mother’s from her own time at Hogwarts as a youth. They were kind enough, but they were strangers, and Harriet longed to be in the comfort of her own home and country. As her twentieth birthday approached, Harriet stopped getting corresponding letters from her mother in the states. Panic gripped her, and she bought a ship’s passage to America as soon as she could get together the money (which still took longer than she would have liked).

This brought her to the present, in line to board the ship with her ticket and passport in hand, along with a suitcase to boot (she enchanted it so it was actually a quite large space--the size of a regular study, complete with shelves of books and a desk, along with a spare bed). She stood behind an odd-looking fellow, with a smattering of freckles across his face and a constant nervous look, who clutched a battered briefcase to himself very tightly, as if he were afraid something might emerge from inside it. After a while, her curiosity waned and she paid more attention to the rest of her surroundings, _i.e._ the line that didn't seem to be moving very quickly. 

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the man in front of her look around surreptitiously, as if he was checking the people around him to make sure they weren't watching him. Her interest was immediately piqued, but she pretended to be otherwise occupied with some birds a few feet away from her. He then pulled something long out of his pocket and pointed it at one of his shoes, which was untied. It immediately tied itself, and with a satisfied half-smile, he tucked it back inside of his blue coat.

 _He was a wizard_ , Harriet realized with excitement. Still, she thought it best to keep it to herself for now, and perhaps reveal her knowledge in due time, if she saw him again during the voyage. 

She smiled slyly as the line lurched forward.


	2. As If A Plane Crash Were Timely

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harriet meets Newt Scamander, an odd and jumpy fellow.

Harriet smiled for the first time in a while as she felt the cool ocean breeze spray onto her face as she stood at the bow of the ship, suitcase in hand (as she always preferred to have it close in case of emergency). It felt good to finally enjoy the ocean view fully, as she had spent the last couple days cooped up inside of her cabin with only a small round window. Standing on the deck, she couldn't remember the last time she had felt so close to being at peace since she had left her home in America. A thrill sent through her as she thought about finally returning to the place where she grew up as a child. 

She heard a muttering and a sound of a latch undoing and turned around to see who had interrupted her solitude. It was the same man from the other day, who had been in front of her in line to board. He was kneeling on the ground facing her, looking into his open case.

Without much of a second thought, Harriet approached him with a humored smile. 

“Hello,” she said to the man, who was still preoccupied with his case. 

He gave a visible start and slammed shut the case, jerking his head up to squint at Harriet. His eyes widened and his mouth opened slightly.

“Leta?" He whispered, slightly reaching a hand outwards towards Harriet.

"What?" Harriet asked the man, clearly confused as she tried to figure out what _Leta_ meant.

He quickly dropped his hand. He looked at his case, clicked it shut and stood up, brushing off his pants.

The man looked around and took a hesitant half-step forward. "Leta, is that--is that really you?"

Harriet’s eyebrows furrowed even more. "My name is Harriet." He straightened up immediately, clutching his case to himself. "Ah, um, well. Well then, good day," he said before turning around and hustling away from her in such a hurry that you would've thought Harriet had said something incredibly rude. _What a strange man_ , she thought. 

“Wait!” she called, but the man seemed either not to hear her, or wished to ignore her, because he continued to walk away. 

“ _Accio Wand_ ,” she whispered, covering her mouth with her hand and gently swishing her wand underneath her jacket. 

She watched with a mischievous, triumphant grin as a long, thin brown item flew out of the pocket of his blue coat and whizzed her way. 

Harriet caught it with ease and her grin stretched further as the man whipped around in shock to see her holding his wand. A mix of emotions crossed his face and he strode quickly towards her, crossing the distance in only a few steps. He reached for his wand, but she held it behind her, out of his reach. 

Harriet smirked. “I believe we have something in common,” she said to him in a low voice. 

He fidgeted, bouncing on the balls of his feet as he glanced at his wand in her hand, which she hid in the folds of her coat, so as to not be seen by no-maj passengers. 

“Ah,” he said, awkwardly, as if he didn’t quite know what to say. “I see.”

“What’s your name, sir?” she rather demanded. It came out with much more force than she had originally intended to use. The tone surprised them both, but she tried not to let him see her off guard. After all, she was the one with his wand. 

He extended a hand in the direction of the wand and it flew into his hand. He peeked at the ground and smiled quickly, quite pleased with himself. 

“Newt. Scamander. You?” He asked, glancing back up at her through his long eyelashes.

“Harriet Portwell,” she said, firmly sticking a hand out towards him. She realized they were in closer proximity than she was comfortable with, and took half of a step back. 

The man took her hand and shook it politely, giving her a smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't want to make this chapter too long, so I cut it off here. The next chapter will pick up immediately in the same place in the conversation. Leave comments and thank you for the kudos!


	3. You Can Be The One To Say "I Told You So"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harriet talks Newt into showing her what's inside his case, but first they need to go somewhere his creatures won't escape.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This picks up immediately after Chapter Two, in the same place in the conversation.

"What business do you have in New York, Mr. Salamander--"

"Scamander," he interjected quickly.

" _Scamander_ , pardon me," Harriet corrected herself. "What brings you to America?"

He lifted his case a little shyly. "Ah, I'm bringing an important gift for a friend."

"A gift? All the way to America?" Harriet asked, a little incredulously. "It was so important that it couldn't be sent by post?"

Mr. Scamander stared at her for a long moment, seeming to be searching her face for something. 

"Ah, yes, that," he said in response some time later, as though he had forgotten what they were talking about. 

Harriet opened her mouth to respond when suddenly the man's case rattled with a growl. Mr. Scamander pointedly looked around, ignoring the fact that his case was making sounds out of the ordinary. Harriet stared at the case, eyebrows high, and looked back at the man, who glanced at her every now and then. 

"Your case," she said simply. 

"Y-yes, that happens occasionally," he answered nervously. "Must get that fixed at some point."

Harriet coughed in disbelief. 

_He probably has an extension charm on it, like mine_ , she realized with a sly smile. 

She gave him a Cheshire grin. "Sir, what exactly would happen if I were to, say, _open_ that case?" she asked innocently. 

His eyes widened again. 

"Um, ah, I'd really rather you didn't," he stuttered, subtly moving the case behind one of his legs. 

Harriet stepped forward rather brazenly. She smiled widely and batted her eyes at him, inwardly triumphant as the man looked at his feet and started blushing wildly. 

"I'd _really_ like to see what's in that case, Mr. Scamander," she said, her voice intentionally silky.

"Newt," he muttered, the red on his cheeks deepening. 

"Newt," she echoed, a smile on her lips.

He tugged at his collar and cleared his throat a little. "I-I suppose...I suppose I could...show you a peek," he said quietly, glancing up at her with the faintest smile. 

Harriet grinned in victory. She didn't even necessarily want to know what was in his case, she was just having fun with this new wizard she had met. 

"Before that happens, however," he began again, this time with certainty and a hint of pride, "we _do_ need to relocate to a more secluded place, such as my cabin."

Her eyebrows shot up in surprise at his forwardness. 

"Lead the way, I suppose," she said, waving her hand onward. 

Newt nodded and turned around, leading her off the deck and inside the ship. She followed him down several flights of stairs, through a long hallway, and finally to a door to a room by the boiler room. He obviously hadn't spent much money on getting that nice of a room, either. Either he didn't mind his room's location, or he didn't intend on spending much time there. 

He unlocked the door quickly and somewhat awkwardly edged his way through the doorway, clutching his case to his chest. He stood in the middle of the tiny room and looked back at Harriet, who was still standing in the hallway. 

He waved her in. "Well, c'mon," he said impatiently. 

Harriet hesitated for a small moment, then followed him in, closing the door behind her.


	4. Everything Falling Down Around Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Newt takes Harriet inside his case, and she sees his creatures for herself. In this one, she meets Frank the Thunderbird.

Once inside with the closed door, Harriet realized how little available space there was inside the room. It was honestly a glorified closet, with both ends of the small bed touching the walls. She tried not to show her discomfort in the small space and looked at Newt, who seemed to be completely oblivious to the fact that they were practically standing on top of each other. He was setting the case on the floor--with a little difficulty, albeit, because of the little space available--and unlatching it. 

He opened it a little, looked inside for an extended length of time, and closed it lightly again.

Newt looked her up and down. 

"You'll need to leave that out here," he informed her, nodding towards her own case in her hand. She had honestly forgotten that she was carrying it; it was practically an extension of her own arm. 

Harriet looked around her. "Uh, leave this out where?" she asked him. 

He slightly hesitated, bouncing on his toes before leaning forward quickly and grabbing her case from her with an apologetic glance. He set it on the bed with a satisfying _plop!_ and turned back to his case.

He swung it fully open and descended into it.

She shouldn't have been so surprised, after all her suitcase did the exact same thing. Even so, it was strange to watch someone actually disappear into a case. It just didn't seem natural at all. 

_Well, of course it doesn't look natural. It's magic_ , she reminded herself mentally. 

Apparently, she had taken too long in observing it all, because just after she had finished this thought, his head popped out of the case. 

"Follow me," he said before disappearing again. 

Harriet sighed and followed his instructions, stepping down into the case. She hopped down, falling a couple feet to do so. 

Inside, she found a very cluttered room with Newt standing proudly in the midst of it all, waiting for her arrival. He nodded in satisfaction, giving her a small smile.

"This," he said proudly, opening his arms wide and gesturing around him, "is what is inside my case."

Harriet walked around, studying her surroundings. There were multiple cages of different shapes hanging from the ceiling, including nets of different sizes. There were small cupboards lining the walls, and strange plants emerging in weird places. She noticed a stool behind her and sat down politely. 

She smiled at him. "It's nice," she said genuinely. 

Newt smiled in return. "Thank you very much."

Harriet glanced at all of it again. "What is all of this for?" she asked, her curiosity getting the better of her. 

He beckoned her to follow him again and he led her out of the shed. As she exited the room, she was blinded by the bright sun and a grassy field that stretched quite a ways. 

_Are we outside_? She asked herself. She was immediately answered by the sound of great swooping wings, along with a bit of wind. She squinted into the sun and her mouth fell open in shock when she saw the silhouette of a giant bird descending directly towards her. It screamed, the sound echoing loudly in her ears. 

"Ah, step back, will you?" Harriet jumped as she realized that Newt was standing beside her. She obeyed him, taking a few steps backwards, still watching the great bird coming down. 

As it landed on the ground, Newt approached it, rubbing it's beak fondly. It nudged him gently with affection, grumbling a little. 

"Yes, it's good to see you, too, Frank," Newt muttered to the creature. 

"It's a thunderbird," Harriet whispered to herself. 

This somehow ruined the moment between them, as the bird snapped its attention to her. It squawked angrily, flapping its wings aggressively and backing up. Suddenly, the sky was dark and full of thunder and lightning. Knowing the danger of an angered thunderbird, Harriet backed up even more and attempted to make herself small. Newt rushed towards the bird to soothe it, putting out his hands between them. 

"I-it's not her! It's not her, Frank!" He told the bird anxiously. "I didn't bring her here--this is Harriet." 

The thunderbird settled slightly, but still looked at Harriet with distrust. Newt began to pet it again, attempting to calm the bird's nerves. The sky cleared a bit, although it stayed dark. 

"I'm not who?" Harriet asked bluntly. 

Newt looked back at her. "You look like someone I, ah, used to know," he answered. 

She was only more intrigued. "Someone bad?"

He turned back to Frank and stayed silent for a while, then gave the slightest shrug. "Who knows, anymore?"

Frank, who was considerably more calm then before, gave a small squawk.

Newt turned back to her again. "You can come forward, if you'd like. He wants to get a look at you. Walk slowly, if you please."

Harriet cautiously joined Newt by the thunderbird. The bird made direct eye contact with her, and a long moment passed like that, with her standing stiffly in front of it, being observed. She couldn't remember the last time she had felt so much awe than this, standing in front of one of her favorite creatures of legend, in all its majestic glory. 

Newt grabbed her hand, surprising her. He lifted it and brought it at a safe distance towards the bird. Frank studied the joined hands, looked back at Harriet, and slowly moved its head forward, resting against her forehead. Slowly, showing her hand to Frank where he could see it, she raised it to pet him.

"I was in the Thunderbird house at Ilvermorny," Harriet confided in Frank. It warbled a response and tutted, shaking its head a bit. 

She grinned and looked at Newt, who seemed wholly entranced by the scene before him. 

"I've never seen him take to someone like that," he said in amazement. 

Harriet shrugged and looked back at Frank, who had nudged her for attention again. She giggled and continued to pet him. 

"It's probably just because you're here, as well," she said, giving him credit with a smile. She didn't see the crooked smile he gave in return. 

"Perhaps so."

Newt cleared his throat. "Now, c'mon. There's lots to see. This way."

He turned and started walking away again. Harriet smiled at Frank and kissed the top of his beak. 

"I'll be back," she promised, before turning to follow Newt to where he had gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I just really fucking love my OC, and that's probably going to be pretty evident throughout this story. Thanks for reading this far! I'm going to start trying to update at least once a week. 
> 
> Thanks for the kudos, and please leave comments! :)


	5. Now I'm Off To Dream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Newt, Harriet, and more creatures.

With her hands clasped behind her back, Harriet followed Newt into a dark, swampy area. She noticed him standing at the edge of a large pool of water, throwing items from a bucket into the water. She approached him and stood to his side, looking out over the water serenely, admiring the reflection of the bright moon stretching across the rippling lake. 

"This is nice," she remarked, throwing a glance sideways at Newt. 

He nodded, keeping his gaze on the water. 

Harriet opened her mouth to speak again when something suddenly rose up out of the water, snatching the items on the surface that Newt had thrown into the water. Harriet gasped and jumped backwards, losing her balance and falling flat on the ground. In surprised awe, she gaped at the creature, which appeared to look like a horse, but with a shiny green coat. It caught sight of Newt and roared, throwing its head back and rising higher out of the water. The sight of the large silhouette of the creature against the bright moonlight was terrifying, and enough to make Harriet scuttle back a couple steps.

Newt seemed unaffected. "I just fed you your dinner," he said calmly, gesturing with a hand towards the creature. 

It snorted unhappily and dipped its head in the water, then jerked it upwards, splashing Newt and Harriet quite a bit. 

"Now, that's enough of that," Newt scolded lightly. "We've talked about pouting, now haven't we?"

It huffed and disappeared into the water again. Newt nodded happily and turned around with a smile on his face to look at Harriet, who was still on the ground. 

"Kelpie," he said, as if that explained everything. He reached down and helped her up, adding, "I'm hoping to have a bunyip in there, as well, by the end of the month." 

Harriet stared after the creature in the water. "Bunyip. Kelpie," she repeated softly. She didn't know what either of those things were.

He nodded matter-of-factly and walked a few steps, picking up the bucket he had been feeding the creature with. He continued walking, waving her forward with a hand. 

"Come on, there's much more," he called to her. 

Newt led her away from the lake to a small clearing a little ways off, where there were a few boulders leaning against each other. It was a nice, charming sight until a large, round pair of eyes poked out from behind it. A second later, another pair joined them in the dark. Gradually, more and more pairs of eyes appeared in the dark, and they seemed to be encircling Newt and Harriet, who counted up to eleven pairs. 

Unable to see anything else of the creatures' bodies due to the dark, Harriet's mind went into overdrive to imagine what the creatures could possibly look like. To make matters worse, the eyes seemed to be getting closer and closer, and there was a scuffling sound accompanying it.

Trying to disguise her nerves, Harriet looked over to Newt, who seemed perfectly calm and unaffected. He seemed more preoccupied with a bucket that seemed to be glowing from within. He picked it up and looked at her with a placid smile on his face while he pushed it into her arms. 

"Feed them, will you?" he said absentmindedly, already turning around to fiddle with something else. 

"Fe-f-sp-p," she sputtered after him, clueless as to what to do. She looked down into the contents of the bucket, which seemed to be very small orbs of light. 

"Uhh, Newt!" Harriet called. He stopped and spun around, walking over to her. 

"Yes, yes, what is it?" he asked, looking from the bucket to her. "What seems to be the problem?"

She gaped at him a little. "I don't know what to do. How do I feed them, exactly?"

He brightened and stepped closer to her, so they were touching shoulders side by side. 

"Yes, well, you do it like this," he said, grabbing her hand--surprising her--and dunking it into the bucket, then helped her scoop up some of the light orbs. 

"Yes, so, what you do," Newt mumbled, quickly glancing at her, "is bring it in like this--" he tucked the hand he held captive into her torso, his thumb accidentally brushing against her stomach. Perhaps it was merely her imagination, but she could've sworn that she saw his face go slightly red. "H-hmm, so you then bring it out like this," he rushed on, extending the hand towards the ground, "a-and you release," he said, dropping her hand very quickly. 

She followed his instructions, lightly tossing the orbs in the air a couple feet from the ground. The pair of eyes closest to her snapped up to watch the orbs intensely. The creature waddled closer until it was visible in the light. 

Harriet gave out a small bark of laughter. The creature looked unbelievably harmless and innocent, especially as it stood on its hind legs and reached to devour the light orb a few inches above it. Another one scuttled up next to it, attempting to eat another orb in the air. 

Harriet laughed, turning to Newt with a giant grin on her face. This caused a grin of his own to stretch across his face, and he ducked his head shyly. 

"What are they?" she asked, incredulous with delight as she scooped more orbs in the bucket and lightly tossed them in the direction of more of the creatures. 

"Mooncalfs," he said proudly, smiling lovingly down on the creatures. She laughed again, shaking her head in disbelief. 

"Amazing," she muttered. "They're amazing," she told him with a genuine smile. 

Newt rocked back and forth on his feet, looking to be very pleased with himself. "Yes, I think so."

He waited until she finished feeding the creatures before taking back the bucket and setting it on the ground. 

"We should be getting back by now," he suggested quietly. 

Harriet felt a small sinking feeling of disappointment. She felt as if she could stay here in this case forever, learning about new magical beasts she had never even heard of before. But he was right, they had already spent quite a bit of time down there, and it was time to return to the real world. 

She nodded in agreement with him, and together they started back towards the shed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bunyip is basically the Australian equivalent of a Kelpie, except it commonly takes the form of a oversized starfish.
> 
> Also, next chapter is where a certain little guy makes his first grand appearance. I'm so excited. 
> 
> Merry Christmas! :)


End file.
